


versus the world

by starlight_sugar



Category: Campaign (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 02:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16965912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_sugar/pseuds/starlight_sugar
Summary: So the three of them are rebel agents, and not even important rebel agents. And they’re on a forest planet, where nobody will come looking for them. Blue’s not feeling great about their odds of getting help. (A Mynock/Bluebird roleswap,)





	versus the world

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is part of the AUcember series, a self-made challenge where I try to write a new AU one-shot every day. This was originally posted on Tumblr on December 1st and is being cross-posted upon request. You can read all of the AUcember fics in the collection linked above.
> 
> With thanks and love to Tam, who helped me develop the idea and asked all the right questions.

They don’t crash-land on Myrkr, per se. Zero doesn’t like it when they call it a crash-landing, especially because the ship can still fly afterwards. But It’s the kind of landing that includes words like “brace yourself” and “it’s gonna be bumpy” and all those other things that give Blue a headache to think about for too long.

“I thought we had fuel,” Synox snaps, once the ship isn’t smoking anymore and they’ve determined that all the pieces of fuselage are still attached. “Didn’t you say we had fuel?”

“I said we had some fuel,” Zero says coolly. His feet are kicked up on the kitchen table, and his mask is blank, but Blue can hear the irritation in his voice. “There’s a chance that there’s a mechanical issue we overlooked, or a nav-computer glitch-”

“There’s not a nav-computer glitch,” Blue says, before he can stop himself. Synox, predictably, rolls his eyes, and Blue would guess that Zero is doing the same. “There’s not. I wouldn’t let there be.”

“The point remains that we’re stranded.” Zero stretches his arms along the booth-style seat. “And we need to figure out what to do now.”

The kitchen is… well, kitschy. It’s set up like a vintage diner, with booths instead of chairs and actual tile floors. Blue got it secondhand, swindled some poor bastard into thinking it was outdated and traded his ship for it and some creds. He’d been off-planet by the time the guy had realized that Blue had sold him a hunk of junk. It’s what he does: charms people into giving him better equipment. Most of that equipment goes straight to the rebellion, because they need what they can get, but this one had been Blue’s. Getting paid commission, he’d called it. Zero had rolled his eyes until he flew it for the first time. He’d stopped complaining after that.

“There are probably other ships on-planet,” Blue suggests. “We could try and find old ones and drain their fuel cells.”

Synox sighs and leans over, burying his head in his arms on the kitchen table. One of Zero’s feet swipes towards Synox’s head, but he doesn’t react at all. “This cannot be happening.”

“Okay, so Sy still can’t cope with things not going to plan,” Blue says. He means it as a thinking-out-loud thing, but Synox kicks his shin without looking. Hard. Blue has to bite his lip so he doesn’t yelp in pain. Synox doesn’t see it, but Zero definitely does, and Blue… is going to have to live with that. “Zero, what are our options?”

“Option one.” A number one pops up on Zero’s visor. “We call the rebellion, send out an SOS, see what they advise. Wait for orders.”

“I like option one,” Synox says, muffled by his arms.

Blue grimaces. “Option two?”

The one on Zero’s visor scrolls up, replaced by a two. “We try to find ships and drain their fuel cells. Dangerous, because we don’t know what’s on the planet. There could be an Imperial presence.”

Synox slides into the booth opposite Zero and props his chin up on the table. “You think we could beat Imperials in a fight?”

“On a good day, yes.”

“Is today a good day?”

“I don’t know, Sy, are you having a good day?”

Synox looks thunderous for a second, so Blue clears his throat. “I think we should look for fuel cells.”

“And we have to listen to you?” Synox snaps.

“My ship,” Blue says, which is kind of the ultimate trump card here, and they all know it. Blue wouldn’t call himself the captain or anything - he can’t even fly the ship, not manually - but he owns it, he keeps the navigational systems in pristine shape, and he’s the one who hired Zero to fly it. The Mynock, which he really needs to find a better name for, is all his, and that means this is his decision to make. “The rebellion is stretched thin as is. If we have the resources to solve this problem on our own, we’re going to solve it on our own.”

The rest goes unspoken: as competent as all of them are, they’re not a top priority. Blue is a conman, and he’s a damn good one, but he’s… unreliable, is the official term. The one they use in meetings to mean that he looks out for himself too much to be in any key role. And Synox is a trained Imperial strategist, but he refuses to do anything more than grunt work for the rebellion. Blue has his theories about why, but he mostly thinks that Synox just doesn’t want to fight any more wars. And who can blame the guy for that?

Zero, though, that’s a mystery. He’s a pilot, one of the best in the galaxy, and he’s a kriffing good bounty hunter, too. He could be in the center of the rebellion if he wanted to, but he’s always declined to move further up in the ladder. On his more sentimental days, Blue likes to think that’s because Zero doesn’t want to leave him. He’s never asked, though. He’s not sure he wants the answer.

So the three of them are rebel agents, and not even important rebel agents. And they’re on a forest planet, where nobody will come looking for them. Blue’s not feeling great about their odds of getting help. It’s easier to take matters into their own hands.

Synox and Zero exchange a long look before they turn to Blue. Zero projects a raised eyebrow. “Alright, boss,” he says, “what’s the plan?”

 

#

 

There is one other ship that is definitely not Imperial and is definitely still functional. It’s hidden, and it’s hidden well at that, with all sorts of cloaking and signal masking and slicing. Whoever hid the ship is good. Blue is better.

It’s about two klicks away, close enough that they can walk without having to strain the Mynock’s fuel cells any further. Synox stays behind to guard the ship, leaving Zero and Blue to make their way through the forests of Myrkr. Zero insists on walking in front of Blue the whole time, which would be a nice gesture if he didn’t include the words “so you don’t get lost.”

“I don’t get lost,” Blue- listen, he’s not going to say he’s whining, but he’s definitely closer to whining than he gets most days. “I know where we’re going.”

“Me too,” Zero says, and waves a hand in front of his helmet. Which is a valid point. Blue has done a lot of the programming on Zero’s helmet. The navigations, the communications, the data interface, they’re all top notch. Zero can get them where they’re going. That’s why Blue hired him to begin with.

The walk is mostly silent, which means that Blue spends it cataloguing details about the planet around them. When they get to the coordinates that Blue had narrowed down, it’s an empty clearing, but it takes Blue thirty seconds to slice into the ship and disable its cloaking. It’s a small cruiser, not the kind of thing that you’d want to live on forever, but it looks like it’s been there for some time.

Zero puts a hand on the hilt of his vibrosword. “How long is this going to take?”

“Depends if there’s anyone on the ship.” Blue adjusts the mini-datapad on his wrist. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Blue opens the ship’s hatch. It’s barely halfway open when he hears a sound that he can’t quite place, a pseudo-electronic whoosh. He’s barely registered the noise and the glow of something red before Zero grabs his shoulder and wrenches back, hard. Blue stumbles back, and looks up.

There’s a woman, standing in the open hatch of the ship. She’s short and pale - Dathomirian, he thinks, although he can’t be sure - and she has a lightsaber pointed at Zero. Zero, who is standing in front of Blue, vibrosword at the ready.

“So here’s how this is going to work,” the woman says, casual as can be. “You’re going to leave me on my ship and go on your merry way, and I’m not going to skewer you.” She tilts her head to meet Blue’s eyes, and Zero shifts uneasily. “Either of you. Does that sound fair?”

“Hey now,” Blue says, even over his heart pounding in his ears, because there is a lightsaber involved and he’s never even seen one of those in person. “We’re not looking for trouble-”

“Blue,” Zero growls, “not the time.”

“You should listen to your friend,” the woman says. “I’m not feeling particularly patient today, not that I’m ever patient with people who try to invade my home.”

Blue lifts his hands slowly. “No home invasion, ma’am, we’re just a couple of lost guys looking for fuel.”

“On Myrkr?”

He flashes the sharpest smile he can. “We’re very lost.”

“I’m getting that impression.”

“So if you could direct us to a refuel station, or someone else we can steal fuel from-”

“You were planning on stealing from us?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say this went as planned.”

“ _Adnau_ ,” Zero says, sounding pained, and that’s enough to give Blue legitimate pause. True first names are a codeword between them, a sign that something is really, truly wrong. Zero must think that this is serious danger, if he’s pulling that out of his arsenal.

The woman opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, a new voice from inside the ship says, “Aunt Aava?”

Blue frowns. That sounds like a kid.

The woman’s face contorts into something between frustration and fear. “Not now, Tamlin.”

“What’s happening?”

“Go to your room, Tama,” Aava says through gritted teeth. “It’s not-”

“Are they looking for us?”

“Should we be looking for you?” Blue asks without thinking. It’s a stupid question, he knows it as soon as he’s out of his mouth, and the woman’s eyes drift towards him. Along with the blade of her lightsaber. “I mean that in the least malevolent way possible. We’re not with the Empire or anything.”

From the edge of the hatch, a tiny head peeks out. It is a kid, and a pretty young one at that. His skin is blanched white, except for black tattoos covering half his face, and he has little nubby horns. Aava makes a pained face, but the kid ignores it, searching around until his eyes land on Blue. “Do you think the Empire’s bad?”

“I’m not their biggest fan,” Blue answers cautiously. “In fact, you could say I’m going up against them.” Zero coughs, and Blue rolls his eyes. “I mean, we are.”

“We don’t like the Empire either.” Tamlin looks up at Aava. “Right?”

Aava sighs. “No, Tama, we don’t like the Empire. We also don’t like people who come knocking on our door to steal fuel.”

“We’re not going to steal it now that we know you’re here,” Blue points out. “Right, Zero?”

“I hate you,” Zero says with feeling. “I hate everything about this situation, and I just want you to know that.”

Aava’s eyes flick to Zero. “You’re his babysitter?”

“Yes,” Zero says, like Blue knew he would, even though he’s not. “And you have a nephew?”

“Who I’m trying to keep safe from the Empire.”

“What a coincidence.” Zero sounds like he’s smiling. Maybe he’s even projecting it on his helmet, judging by the way Tamlin’s eyes widen. “I’m trying to keep mine safe too.”

“I’m doing alright,” Blue protests. “Besides, we all have common ground here, we’re trying to stay away from the Empire! If anything we should team up.”

“Team up?” Zero repeats incredulously. “What, we should just take them on our ship, right back to the rebellion?”

“The rebellion?” Aava repeats sharply. Zero winces. “You two are with the rebellion?”

Zero doesn’t say anything. Tamlin is staring at them wide-eyed, and Aava is looking at them like she can’t believe what she’s hearing. Blue glances between them all, furiously running the calculations. She must either love the rebellion or hate them, for a reaction that strong. And judging by the desperate edge to her voice, the way she’s blocking off most of the hatch so that Tamlin stays mostly hidden, she needs help. The rebellion helps people.

Blue makes a snap call and steps forward. Zero throws out an arm to keep him back, and Blue lets him, but he still stands by Zero’s side, looking up at Aava. “We can give you safe passage on our ship. We just need your fuel so that we can get off planet, and we can take you anywhere you want to go.”

Aava narrows her eyes, looking between the two of them. And then she looks at Tamlin, and all of the tension radiating off of her melts away as she meets his eyes. “What do you say, buddy?”

Tamlin chews on his lip for a second. “Will I have time to pack?”

“Yes, you will.”

“And you’re gonna be with me?”

“Every step of the way.”

He nods. “Then I wanna be a rebel!”

Aava deactivates her lightsaber, and Zero lets out a breath. She looks amused. “You wait out here for fifteen minutes. If we get out here and you’re gone, we can find you, and we can make you regret leaving.”

“No leaving,” Zero says. “Fifteen minutes.”

Aava nods and disappears into the ship, and Zero finally drops his vibrosword and turns to Blue. He’s not projecting anything on his visor, which is somehow even scarier than any anger he could be projecting. “What were you thinking? She could’ve killed us in a heartbeat, they don’t give lightsabers to just anyone!”

“I was thinking that these people needed help,” Blue says, surprising even himself. And he was thinking about children, trying to get away from the Empire. About the way Aava looked at Tamlin. “And besides, you don’t think it would be cool to have a Force user on our ship? That’s a good thing to have on our side.”

Zero’s shoulders slump, but Blue can’t tell whether it’s in disappointment or in relief. “You’re unbelievable,” he mutters, and Blue… doesn’t know what to make of that, either. “And you have to be the one to tell Sy we adopted a kid.”

“That’s fair,” Blue mutters, and Zero flashes a smirk up on his helmet. “But we’re the rebellion. We help people.”

Zero looks at Blue for a long moment before shaking his head, slowly. “I guess we do,” he says softly. “And we’re going to help them.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr and Twitter @waveridden!


End file.
